Cassadee Pope: The Ins and Outs of a Country Career

Cassadee Pope entered the Nashville music scene a little differently than most. The singer began her country career and immediately signed on to star in a CMT’s new docu-series, Cassadee Pope: Frame by Frame
. When she arrived at CMT for her first media day, she was adjusting well to the constant presence of film crews, but Pope said it wasn’t always so easy.

“The Voice had more of a formal way of shooting things, so I got used to that,” she admitted to CMT Hot 20 Countdown
. “Then the docu-series started, and that is way different. They are in your face, and you don’t have a second to think about what you’re gonna say because you have to act natural. … It was definitely jarring at first, but I think we captured some really amazing things.”

Along with learning to act naturally for the cameras, Pope jumped into a hectic tour of radio stations. Fans may be surprised at just how strenuous it can be.

“I think people would be surprised at just how crazy it is — the schedule and how many things in one day that you’re doing,” she said. “On my first radio tour, I started off doing five stations a day, four days a week, so it was crazy right off the bat. I’m happy that they capture that because a lot of people think you win a show like The Voice and you go off and your life is just like a cake walk. But there’s work after the fact that needs to be done, and that’s probably the most important part.”

Pope refers to her long days on the road as “laying down the groundwork” for her career and hopes to give viewers a glimpse into a world that’s equally painstaking and glamorous.

“People think a song gets [sent to] the radio [station], and boom it’s on the radio,” she said. “But what they don’t realize is, in country music, you have to make these relationships with everybody. You have to make them feel like they are a part of your career — because they are. They get to know you, and they want to believe in you and your music.”